General

Visually impaired scores with letter marks in Maths

In an impressive performance as well as a huge morale booster to the differently-abled persons to pursue academic excellence, a visually impaired student of Government Ideal Blind School, Takyel scored letter marks in Mathematics in the recently declared HSLC (Cl-X) examination.
The outstanding achievement of thokchom Anjalina Devi, who scored 80 marks in Mathematics at the HSLC examination conducted by the Board of Secondary Education Manipur, has undoubtedly proved that with proper guidance and hard work even the differently abled persons can compete with the able-bodied.

Book released by Odisha Blind Foundation

Odisha Blind Foundation (OBF) released a book named ‘Alok Pathara Jatridala' on Friday to commemorate 44{+t}{+h}death anniversary of Louis Braille.
This book was released at a function organised on the premises of the only Braille press in Odisha, functioning in the city. It is the third book published by the OBF to make general public know about social activists of the world and our country who have played a major role to attach the visually impaired to the mainstream. The other two books published by the OBF in the past were related to lives of Louis Braille and Helen Keller.

Blind musicians lose their fear of the dark

Growing up in northern Iran, Fereshteh Khosroujerdy loved to sing. Everyone who heard her voice in the streets would hug and kiss her and tell her how beautiful it was. Everyone, that is, except her strict Muslim parents, who warned her that if they caught her singing in public – forbidden for women – they would douse her in petrol and set her alight. "It is very difficult to be born a girl," she said, "and it is disastrous to be born a girl and blind."

Metro rail readies facilities to benefit differently-abled

Perhaps, other state undertakings like TSTC, MTC and Railways can take a cue from Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) in considering the needs of the differently-abled while designing projects for public utility. The amenities proposed in ongoing metro project would definitely be a benchmark, if CMRL were to translate them into reality.
Among the long list of amenities proposed for metro stations are dedicated parking space (subject to space availability) and tactile tiles to access functional areas and platforms and non-slippery floors.

Yet another feather to Samarthanam founder GK Mahantesh

Samarthanam is proud to announce a coffee table book, India Awakened: Agents of Changes on the nation’s unsung heroes that dedicates a section to the dynamic, inspiring founder of this organization for the disabled, Mr. G K Mahantesh.

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik inaugurates private eye hospital in city

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday inaugurated a private eye hospital in the city which is boasting of having a chain of facilities in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and one in Mauritius. Claimed to have been built at a whopping cost of Rs 10 crore, Dr Agarwal’s Eye Hospital assures to provide quality eye care by a team of dedicated doctors.

The hospital is believed to be well- equipped in performing certain ophthalmic surgeries. It has promised to provide free cataract surgeries on at least three days in a month.

City gets country’s first ‘talking ATM’ for differently-abled

Tarak Luhar, visually impaired since birth, was the first to withdraw money from the country’s first ‘Talking ATM’ installed by the Union Bank of India on Wednesday at the Blind People’s Association (BPA) premise in Vastrapur. The machine did the talking through the head phones and he would just run his fingers on the Braille keypad on the machine.
Bank chairman and managing director D Sarkar inaugurated the disabled-friendly machine with a view to assist the visually and physically challenged.

Rs. 30 lakh spent to renovate Planning Commission hq. toilets

A day after a Right to Information query revealed that the Planning Commission had splurged over Rs. 30 lakh on renovating toilets at its headquarters in Delhi, the Commission disputed that it was wasteful expenditure. The Commission said the amount was spent on a set of six “toilet blocks” with multiple seats and facilities for the differently-abled. It also described the renovation as “routine maintenance,” required in an old building having an antiquated plumbing system

Now, certificates for visually-impaired

A few months ago, when Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar handed over a certificate of participation to a visually impaired student on a study visit to Parliament, she faced an innocent but important question: “But how will I read this certificate?”

Kumar, a former Union minister for social justice and empowerment, took note of the situation.

Demand for rights for differently-abled

Stakeholders have opined that discriminatory attitude towards differently-abled people should be made positive as they also can perform equal to other persons if they were provided with opportunities and rights.
At a programme organised by Youth Support, speakers said that differently-abled persons' access to education and health should be increased.